Decollator with improved friction feed means



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DECOLLATOR WITH IMPROVED FRICTION FEED MEANS July 14, 1910 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 15, 1967 INVENTOR ZZZ ward f/Z'z'ZZ aland,

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DECOLLATOR WITH IMPROVED FRICTION FEED MEANS Filed Aug. 15, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Edward 3. 5114 K M, wall lad ATTORNEYS July 14, 1970 E. w. GILL 3,520,530

DECOLLATOR WITH IMPROVED FRICTION FEED MEANS Filed Aug. 15, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR Eda/4rd fifill,

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ATTORNEYS 3,520,530 DECOLLATOR WITH IMPROVED FRICTION FEED MEANS Edward William Gill, London, England, assignor to Moore Business Forms, Inc., Niagara Falls, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 15, 1967, Ser. No. 660,713 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 16, 1966, 36,653/ 66; Mar. 13, 1967, 11,646/ 67 Int. Cl. B65h 41/00 Int. Cl. 27052.5 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A decollator is provided with a plurality of idler pressure rollers adapted to bear upon portions of a plurality of webs which are passing around a plurality of frictional drive rollers.

This invention relates to decollators, namely devices for separating the individual webs of an assembly of continuous record webs and collecting the webs so separated into packs as well as separating out any interleaved carbon webs.

British Patent No. 988,387 describes a decollator device having a surface to support an array of continuous web assembly to be decollated and a pair of rollers having a roughened surface over which respective continuous record webs of the assembly are fed to collection platforms. The device also has a rotatable carbon transfer web rewind receiving mechanism on which any transfer web present in interleaved relation between adjacent record webs is wound. As the transfer web is rewound on the receiving mechanism it serves also by virtue of the friction between the webs to pull the continuous record webs with it from the supporting surface to the rough rollers so that the record web parts can fall on to the collected platforms to be collected and refolded there if of the refoldable type.

When such a decollator is used with assemblies of self-manifolding paper there is no interleaved transfer web; consequently, the record webs are not always fed accurately because of the absence of an interleaved transfer web serving to pull the record webs from the supporting surface.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved decollator of the type just described.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a decollator which is adapted for use in decollating assemblies of continuous record webs of self-manifolding paper as well as for decollating assemblies of record webs interleaved with transfer webs.

According to the present invention, the decollator comprises a support for the continuous record Web assembly to be decollated into individual webs, a pair of rotatably driven rollers over which respective webs of the continuous assembly are fed, and a free running roller in co'operating engagement with one of the driven rollers to maintain the separated web into frictional contact with the driven roller and thus positively advance such web.

One embodiment of a decollator constructed in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of the decollator being used to decollate an assembly of continuous webs with an interleaved carbon transfer web;

FIG. 2 is a similar view to FIG. 1 but showing an assembly of self-manifolding forms being decollated;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the upper portion of the decollator of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

United States Patent 3,520,530 Patented July 14, 1970 FIG. 4 is a detail view, partially in section, of a drive pulley used in the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings there is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a decollator having a frame body generally designated 1 with provision to receive a centrally located pull-out tray 2. This pull-out tray of shallow V-shape serves to support an array of continuous web assembly 3 to be separated into individual webs 3a, 3b. Above sup porting tray 2 two side walls 4, 5 extend upwardly and inwardly as continuations of the corresponding outer side surfaces of the frame body.

A continuous record web collecting (and refolding) platform 6 is located on opposite side walls of the frame body 1 between wall extensions 4, 5. Each platform comprises a cantilevered plate 7 projecting at an angle slightly less than a right angle to the body side wall and carrying adjacent the outer end thereof and a guide stop 8 upstanding therefrom. The stops are slidably adjustable along the length on the plates to accommodate different form lengths of continuous record webs.

At the top of side wall extensions 4, 5 there are mounted a pair of cross shafts 9 upon which are arranged a pair of cylindrical driving rollers 10 covered with a hard, rough surface. These rollers are driven by a drive motor 21 mounted within the frame body 1. A take-up device 12 for advancing and winding the interleaved carbon web 30 upon itself is also driven by the drive motor. This take-up device consists of a pair of discs 11 (only one of which is visible in FIG. 3) rotatably mounted near the side walls 4, 5 and which are connected by a pair of parallel cross shafts 13 between which the free end of the carbon web is threaded. This device is more fully shown and described in British Pat. No. 988,387.

The take-up device is journaled at its ends, as at 27, in the top of the side walls 4, 5 generally parallel to shafts 9 carrying the driving rollers 10. Each of the shafts 9 is equipped at the corresponding end with a driving pulley 22 and one of the journals 27 is provided with a similar pulley 23. A pulley 24 is also provided on the drive motor 21. An endless belt 25 with a low coeflicient of friction is passed around the drive motor pulley 24 as well as around the driving roller pulleys 22 and the take-up device pulley 23.

Referring to FIG. 4 there is shown in detail one of the pulleys 22. This pulley includes a first sheave part 26 held onto the corresponding shaft 9 for integral rotation therewith. A second sheave part 27 is screwed onto a threaded extension 25 of the central section of part 26 so that the distance separating the two sheave parts can be adjusted which varies the depth of the V-groove 31 of the pulley. By this means the effective diameter of the pulley 22 can be altered to vary the speed of the driving rollers. This adjustable feature accommodates for different loads, caused for example by decollating different weights of paper. The movable sheave part 27 is locked to the threaded extension 25 by an Allen screw 28 which screws into a threaded passage 29 in the sheave part 27 into contact with the extension.

The endless belt 25 preferably passes loosely around the pulleys 22, 23, 24 so that if an operator should fall against the device 12 or one of the rollers 10 the element in question stops rotation and avoids injury. A variable resistance motor control indicated by the knob 14 is connected in the circuit to the drive motor to enable the speed of running of the motor to be varied and is mounted in the frame body 11. A push-button switch 15 for the motor is also mounted on the frame body.

A pair of idler rollers 16 are journaled at the remote ends of two generally opposed pivoted arms 17, each of these rollers being located vertically above the corresponding driving roller 10. Each of the idler rollers consists of an inner metal disc surrounded on its periphery by an annulus of rubber or other high friction material. The arms 17 are pivoted on a cross shaft 32 bridging the ends of two inclined support arms 18 which are arranged for limited pivoted movement in the frame. The lower end of the arms 18 is slotted at 18a to engage a pin 19 in a frame top member, the arms being prevented from pivoting towards the rollers 10 by a stop pin 20. The position of the stop pin is so arranged that the relative positions of the outer end of the arms 18 and the pivoted arms 17 is such that the centers of the idler rollers 16 are located vertically above the centers of the rollers 10 with the rollers 16 resting on the rollers 10 or on the continuous record web when present between the rollers 10, 16.

The pivoted arm 18 may be moved from the position shown in FIG. 1 by pivoting its outer end clockwise, thereby disengaging the idler rollers from the drive rollers 10 to facilitate loading of the continuous web between the two cylindrical rollers. A decollator as above-described may be used to decollate a continuous assembly 3 with an interleaved carbon transfer web as shown in FIG. 1 or to decollate a continuous assembly of self-manifolding paper as shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1 a continuous record web assembly is decollated by wrapping the carbon transfer web of the continuous assembly stack 3 around the take-up device 12. The leading ends of the record webs of the assembly are directed manually to the platform 6 and the idler rollers 16 are moved into operative position in rolling contact with the other side of the record webs from the rollers 10 so that the rollers 16, by virtue of their weight, urge the web into frictional contact with the rollers 10. Thus, when the device 12 and rollers 10 are rotated, the transfer web is wound on the device 12 and the record webs fall onto the respective platforms 6 in stacks. If one part of the web assembly 3 is of much heavier paper than the other part, it may be preferred to have the heavier paper pass over the roller 10 remote from the device 12 and to have both of the rollers 16 arranged in contact with the heavier paper.

If self-manifolding continuous assemblies are to be decollated whereby there is no transfer web to be wound of the continuous assemblies are fed over the two cylindrical rollers 10 to the respective platforms 6. The disc rollers 16 are lowered onto the respective webs on the respective cylindrical rollers 10 and the rollers are rotated to feed the web parts onto the respective platforms 6. Because of the friction between the cylindrical rollers 10 and the self-manifolding webs under the bias by gravity of the idler rollers, the self-manifolding webs are fed satisfactorily to the respective platforms 6.

Changes in the details of the design and construction of the apparatus embodying the invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Thus, the invention is not limited by the example described above or otherwise except as is required by the appended claim.

What I claim is:

1. A decollator'comprising a supporting framework, 9. platform for the continuous web assembly to be decollated into individual webs, a plurality of driven feed rollfor receiving the separated record webs, a plurality of idler pressure rollers, means for mounting said pressure rollers so that each one is disposed above one of said driven rollers and adapted to bear upon that portion of the web which is passing around said driver feed roller, means for driving said driven rollers, said pressure rollers being carried by arms pivoted to a common cross shaft, which shaft is in turn carried by an arm adjustably pivoted to said frame.

' References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,252,550 1/1918 Champney 74-23017 2,805,855 9/1957 Sornberger 27052.5 3,079,142 2/1963 Pine et al. 27042.5

EUGENE R. CAPOZ IO, Primary Examiner P. V. WILLIAMS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

